A 20-Year Journey: Temwa’s Achievements and the Road Ahead

Temwa has been operating in Malawi for 20 years, and it’s incredible how quickly the time has passed. The organization has achieved so much, and I’ve learned a great deal along the way, but there’s still much more to do. Temwa was initially founded to support communities who were trying to cope with the AIDS orphan crisis. Now the communities we serve have different challenges. In many ways, it feels like Temwa is still at the beginning of its journey. Despite overcoming significant challenges, both Temwa UK and Temwa Malawi have ambitious goals ahead and are eager to accomplish even more.  

Temwa is in fact two separate organisations, Temwa UK a small predominantly fundraising office, which also provides some technical support and liaises between donors and Temwa Malawi. Temwa Malawi is the implementation organisation that delivers all the programmes, it is the beating heart of Temwa. Both organisations want to extend it’s reach to support communities in other Districts in Northern Malawi.  

Over the last 20 years Temwa has;  

Trained 6,200 farmers in sustainable agriculture (reaching over 43,000 people), and planted over 1.6 million trees, supported the community to put by-laws in place to protect the ancient forest. Over 35,900 people have been tested for HIV (in Malawi 9.6% among adults aged 15-49 are HIV positive or have AIDS  – UNAIDS), 13,146 people across 12 communities, now have access to safe clean water (4 in every 5 households does not have access to safe, clean water in Nkhata Bay North). 2,334 students have improved their literacy skills after attending Temwa’s Reading Camps.  201 students have Temwa supported with a secondary school bursary through the Nick Webber Trust. 4,700 visits are made to Temwa’s library in Usisya each year. To support girls’ education Temwa has built the Usisya Girls hostel for bursary students, provided sanitary pads for bursary students, and established village reading groups for young women. 1,300  entrepreneurs have been supported set up micro enterprises. 

These are just some of the achievements made in Nkhata Bay North, a district which is a similar size to Somerset in the UK, it’s a large geographical area. Temwa’s community-driven approach empowers local communities to lead their own development by focusing on sustainable initiatives in agriculture, education, health, and economic opportunities, fostering long-term self-reliance, something that we are very proud of. 

As Co-Founder and Managing Director of Temwa UK, with our team & board, I’ve learnt so much, how to navigate an NGO through a global pandemic, how to manage and recover from a fraud case, let alone reading about the history of Malawi, the impacts of the enslavement of African people, colonialism, the importance of decolonisation of the aid sector, decolonisation of our global society and structural racism. The world is complex place for humans, there is a lot we can do to bring the change that we need to see in the world. It’s been incredibly rewarding to witness the impact of our work, the brilliance of the team in Malawi who with the community driven approach (designed by board member Dr Msukwa & Programme Director Kondwani Botha) make the projects incredibly successful, but our journey is far from complete. The most profound and shocking issue affecting the communities we support has been the devastating effects of climate change. 

My life is firmly planted in two countries. The UK, the country of my birth is one responsible for large amounts of carbon emissions, Malawi, my adopted country is now severely impacted by climate change. As a country, Malawi is only responsible for 0.04% of global emissions, yet is in the top 5 countries to be most impacted by climate change. 

The impact of climate change is being felt globally, with countries in the global south facing the harshest consequences, despite the global north being historically responsible for the majority of emissions. In a survey conducted by Temwa, farmers reported crop yields had decreased by 25% to 75% compared to previous years, attributing this decline to climate change. 

Last year, as Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi, it had devastating consequences as it broke three world records for its strength, velocity and duration. The knock on effect of this has been huge.  

In a recent article from Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda MP Malawi’s Health Minister, they state  

“People must understand: we in Malawi are paying for the climate crisis with our lives. 

From flooding to drought, extreme weather is devastating our communities. It is time for the world’s heaviest emitters to help mitigate the impacts of climatic breakdown on the countries most affected millions of people in my country, Malawi, face unprecedented existential crises driven by climate breakdown.  

“The frequency of extreme weather events and the massive impact they have on communities have left government officials like me with a huge dilemma of how to act fast enough to save lives. In the past three years, we have gone from facing the worst flooding in recent times to the most severe drought in a decade. The impact has been devastating to communities across the country. People are loosing their lives, as well as vast areas of crops destroyed, this has created even more food scarcity in a country that was already struggling with high levels of food insecurity. Since the cyclone food prices can double or triple on a monthly basis…. We cannot tackle the increased risks of the climate crisis alone and cannot mitigate the aggravated impacts on vulnerable populations. If we act together, now, based on the facts we have, it is possible to avert the worst consequences, support the most vulnerable and create an equitable world for all.” 

I’m deeply committed to addressing the climate crisis, and for good reason. At Temwa, we aim to ensure that people in Malawi not only survive but thrive, while also safeguarding the future for the next generations. Unfortunately, many in the global north are disconnected from the natural world—for example food just appears in shops, many people are removed from the process of growing and harvesting food, therefore understanding the impact of changing climate and food security is not deeply understood. In Malawi, over 80% of people grow their own food. If more people in the global north had to do the same, I believe they’d take climate change much more seriously. 

In fact I have so much to say about tackling climate change, I’ve written a second blog post about it, which we will share in the coming weeks! So for now, I will finish with a very BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has helped Temwa get to where we are today. You know who you are, I hope you know how much of a positive impact together we have had, I sure do.  

To all community members, colleagues, and friends of Temwa in Malawi, please know that I am fully committed to doing everything within my power to ensure that those I know in the Global North take meaningful action against the climate crisis. Alongside supporting Temwa’s continued growth, this is my life’s mission. 

Find our more about Temwa’s different projects here.

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